Remind me not to cycle in NY

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I wonder if this could happen in London?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzE-IMaegzQ&feature=player_em...

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Sue

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More idiotic NY rules...

I remember watching that video last month when it was featured in the Huffington Post.

Apparently you could also get into trouble for cycling while wearing a skirt or even having the audacity to enter a playground without being accompanied by a child. You've guessed it - someone got ticketed for just that offence. A list of the bylaws can be found in this photo - and according to one commenter, "amplifying sound" translates as "anything over and above a normal speaking voice at three feet distance in a non yelling tone." Also woe betide you if you stand on the swings, engage in "disorderly conduct" or "perform" (which, if the other rules are anything to go by, could probably include singing along to their digital music player or rehearsing a play for school)

 
 
(Kudos to Angharad for pointing me in the direction of the "Cycling in a skirt" article)

Bike Resources

There are 10 kinds of people in the world - those who understand binary and those who don't...

As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!

No, because ...

... there is no legal requirement in the UK to use cycle lanes. We occasionally use them when they're convenient but many of them are impossible to use on a tandem that isn't hinged in the middle :) and are too narrow to use with a trike.

We've cycled a lot in Belgium and in the north (Flanders,) where it's flat, I think they are compulsory. With a laden tandem riding along a shared pavement (sidewalk in $) can be hazardous to your health, so it's a relief to get into the hilly Ardenne in the south where there are few cycle lanes.

The only serious cycling we've done in the USA has been in Mass (Salem) and NH (we rode round Lake Winipesaki?) way back in 1994 and we were invariably treated with courtesy. We tend to avoid cities anyway.

Robi

As has been repeatedly

As has been repeatedly established in court, there's no legal requirement in NYC to use cycle lanes, either. That doesn't stop the NYPD from issuing bogus tickets, though.

Part of me

Angharad's picture

is terrified of going to the States anyway - I mean they carry guns and shoot each other with monotonous regularity (like Moss Side, in Manchester) - and apart from terminal cowardice, I think I might be allergic to bullets.

All of this is in contrast with the fact that most American individuals I've met are quite charming and extraordinarily generous. So I'm very confused.

As for cycling there - I've seen Bullitt, so not sure I'd like to drive there in anything smaller than a Humvee - let alone ride a bike.

Angharad

Angharad

Cycling in the USA

In the NE we found it perfectly OK and cars would often stop to let cross a main road (and they weren't lining us up for a hit LOL). We met some unbelievably generous and friendly people. Perhaps they were just curious because we were riding a tandem but I don't think so. I could bore you with tales of the guy who bought us ice creams, the one who took us up into his hotel room when we were dripping wet to try and find us some accommodation because everywhere was full, or the cycle policeman who spent a pleasant half hour regaling us with tales about the efficacy of his special bike ... and lots more.

However, when we were cycling with friends in NC a few years later, we were warned not to give motorists who cut us up 'the finger' (or two fingers for we Brits) because they were likely to be armed. A friend of ours was shot at with a salt-loaded cartridge by red-necks in Arizona. Perhaps it's worse the farther south you go? Having said that we had a great time. We may be the only pair to ride a tandem to the top of Kill Devil Hill to see the Wright memorial at Kitty Hawk - I think it's really a footpath but we couldn't resist and nobody said anything.

The only thing about cycling in the US is the shortage of interesting roads and the difficulty of getting detailed maps. Being a new country they don't have the dense network of tiny roads we enjoy in the UK and France particularly and we're spoilt with 1:50,000 and 1:25,000 OS maps so widely available.

Certainly worth a visit, though.

Robi

Remind me not to cycle in NY

Where there are no rules for bikers, but plenty against.

    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine
    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine

Yep.

I saw this in the Huffington post as well. Talking of cycling in a short skirt; what would happen if I cycled through New York in my girly cycling pants? They're like speedoes but skimpier and with a padded crotch. (I cycle in them all the time during hot days up the mountains.)

yes. I cycle in these and a high vis vest top and nothing else. No coppers have ever stopped me.

The yankee police must be perculiarly narrow minded.

Bev

Don't worry Angie. I won't be wearing them for the Gabycon. Dorset isn't ready for Beverly yet. (Anyway, it'll probably be bloody cold in September.)

Growing old disgracefully.

bev_1.jpg

Bike Riding USA

Angharad: Bike riding in the USA is a super popular sport here in the USA and in 99% of the Bike Riding is as safe as it is almost anywhere in the world. When I was driving 18 wheelers trucks nationwide there are bike lanes almost everywhere and also bikes are not allowed on most Interstate Highways and alot of the areas where there need tobe a bike lane in these areas they usually have pathways separate of the highways for biking. Most City Bus's anywhere in the country have bike racks when you need to use public transportation. Here where I live in San Diego(Southern California Area)County I would say there are probally over a thousand bike riders everyday and more on weekends using our roads in total safety. San Diego County is the same size in square miles as the State of Rhode Island. Now as far as Guns and Bullets flying around since we have less controls then England most people only use guns for recreation and it is probally as safe as in anywhere in this World to have no fear to go anywhere and worry about possible being shot at. If I was able I would gladly escort you anywhere here for a visit Ange! Richard

Richard

It's Not All One-Sided

joannebarbarella's picture

When I'm at home in Brisbane my favourite afternoon walk is through a riverside park where bike-paths and pedestrian-paths run side-by-side and sometimes overlap and cross.

There are clear markings on both indicating who has priorities for use, speed limits for cyclists and sections forbidden to cyclists.

Before I get jumped on let me say that perhaps 95% of the cyclists obey the rules, and are polite and considerate, but then there are the 5% who don't and are an absolute menace, weaving through the walking public at perhaps up to 30kph in areas where small children are liable to run around (it is a park after all) and using those paths where they are clearly prohibited.

The offenders seem to be mainly from the young "serious" cyclists; those with super bikes and wearing all the swish gear who behave with the same arrogance to pedestrians as they complain that motorists treat them. My point being that consideration works in both directions.

This clique seems to also believe that things like traffic lights on urban streets do not apply to them.

Ang, Bev and Steph, please do not stick pins in an effigy of me for having the temerity to mention such peccadilloes,

Joanne